EDMONTON, Alberta — Connor McDavid scored twice to close in on the NHL lead and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 on Thursday night to move into a tie with Toronto for the North Division lead.
McDavid has 20 goals — a goal behind Toronto’s Auston Matthews — and leads the league in points with 58 and assists with 38.
Tyson Barrie assisted on both goals, and Mikko Koskinen made 24 saves to help the Oilers improve to 20-13-0.
Mathieu Perrault scored for the Jets, and Laurent Brossoit made 19 saves. They are two points behind the Oilers and Maple Leafs in the all-Canadian North at 18-10-2.
The teams will complete the series Saturday night.
McDavid opened the scoring at 3:53 of the second period, coming off the bench, picking up the puck along the boards and riffling a shot of the cross bar and in.
Perrault tied it on a tip-in with 7:17 left in the period, and McDavid struck again 38 seconds later when he snapped a shot past Brossoit.
The teams were coming off victories Wednesday night, with the Oilers winning 7-3 at Calgary and the Jets beating Montreal 4-3 in overtime in Winnipeg.
